objective

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

adj. Of or having to do with a material object.

adj. Having actual existence or reality.

adj. Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices: an objective critic. See Synonyms at fair1.

adj. Based on observable phenomena; presented factually: an objective appraisal.

adj. Medicine Indicating a symptom or condition perceived as a sign of disease by someone other than the person affected.

adj. Grammar Of, relating to, or being the case of a noun or pronoun that serves as the object of a verb.

adj. Grammar Of or relating to a noun or pronoun used in this case.

n. Something that actually exists.

n. Something worked toward or striven for; a goal. See Synonyms at intention.

n. Grammar The objective case.

n. Grammar A noun or pronoun in the objective case.

n. The lens or lens system in a microscope or other optical instrument that first receives light rays from the object and forms the image. Also called object glass, objective lens, object lens.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

adj. Of or relating to a material object, actual existence or reality.

adj. Not influenced by the emotions or prejudices.

adj. Based on observed facts.

adj. Of, or relating to a noun or pronoun used as the object of a verb.

n. A material object that physically exists.

n. A goal that is striven for.

n. The objective case; a noun or pronoun in that case.

n. The lens or lenses of a camera, microscope, or other optical device closest to the object being examined.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

adj. Of or pertaining to an object.

adj. Of or pertaining to an object; contained in, or having the nature or position of, an object; outward; external; extrinsic; -- an epithet applied to whatever is exterior to the mind, or which is simply an object of thought or feeling, as opposed to being related to thoughts of feelings, and opposed to subjective.

adj. Unbiased; unprejudiced; fair; uninfluenced by personal feelings or personal interests; considering only the facts of a situation unrelated to the observer; -- of judgments, opinions, evaluations, conclusions, reasoning processes.

adj. Pertaining to, or designating, the case which follows a transitive verb or a preposition, being that case in which the direct object of the verb is placed. See Accusative, n.

n. The objective case.

n. An object glass; called also objective lens. See under Object, n.

n. Same as Objective point, under Objective, a.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

As perceived or thought; intentional; ideal; representative; phenomenal: opposed to subjective or formal—that is, as in its own nature.

Pertaining or due to the real object of cognition; real: opposed to subjective (pertaining or due to the subject of cognition, namely, the mind).

Substantive; self-existent.

Intent, as a person, upon external objects of thought, whether things or persons, and not watching one's self and one's ways, nor attending to one's own sensations; setting forth, as a writing or work of art, external facts or imaginations of such matters as they exist or are supposed to exist, without drawing attention to the author's emotions, reflections, and personality.

In grammar, pertaining to or noting the object of a transitive verb, or of a preposition; forming or expressing a grammatical object: as, the objective case; an objective phrase or clause. Abbreviated obj.

n. In Eng. gram., the objective case; the case used to express the object of a verb or a preposition.

n. An objective point; especially, the object, point, or place to or toward which a military force is directing its march or its operations.

n. The lens, or practically the combination of lenses, which forms the object-glass of an optical instrument, more particularly of the microscope (see object-glass).

Etymologies

Examples

VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'New poll reflects growing U.S. worry over Iraq'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = '56 percent in the poll said the United States was not its objective in Iraq -- what ever the hell the \'objective\' is?? '

The outer or objective process, however, shows in animals strongly controlled by instinct, as insects for instance, a preponderance of the ganglion -- _i. e., subjective_ nervous system over the _objective_ or cerebral system.